Photos: Australia’s drought seen from the air

Aug 03, 2018 09:27 IST

/

A lone tree stands near a water trough in a drought-affected paddock on Jimmie and May McKeown’s property located on the outskirts of Walgett, in New South Wales, Australia. At ground level, Australia’s drought looks like a featureless, brown dust bowl, but from the air it transforms into an artistry of colour and texture as the land cracks under a blazing sun. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

A cow walks away from a water tank in on farmer Tom Wollaston’s property located west of the town of Tamworth in New South Wales. Circular dry plough tracks resemble the concentric circles in Aboriginal dot paintings that tell of an ancient mythology and starving cattle queuing for feed look like an abstract painting with their black shadows stretching across the land in a surrealist image. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

But there is no such beauty for farmer Ash Whitney, just blood, sweat and tears as he struggles to feed his cattle, cutting the drying branches of Kurrajong trees - a last resort during the worst of droughts. “I have been here all my life, and this drought is feeling like it will be around a while,” he said despairingly near the town of Gunnedah. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

Sheep eat grain dropped in a paddock on a property located on the outskirts of Tamworth. The worst drought in living memory is sweeping parts of eastern Australia, leaving farmers struggling to cope and many of them asking questions about the future. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

An old bus used for storing farming equipment stands in a drought-affected paddock west of Gunnedah. Cattle farmer Tom Wollaston, born 70 years ago in the same house he lives in today, is afraid for what this drought will mean for his children, who aim to take over the 2,300-hectare property when Tom “hangs up his boots”. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

A windmill and solar panels stand next to a dam on farmer Scott Cooper’s property named South Park located east of Gunnedah. “I can’t seem to be able to do anything else apart from just feed, and keep things going, and it (the drought) seems to be one step ahead of me all the time. We’ll battle it out, but it puts a strain on everyone,” Wollaston said. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

Dead trees are seen in a drought-affected paddock. Wollaston’s wife Margo said droughts have a very negative impact on the whole farming community in northwest New South Wales. “I find droughts a little bit like cancer - it sort of eats away at you, and it just gets drier and drier and more severe and more severe, and impacting on your life a lot worse.” (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

May McKeown, 79, and her son Jimmie live on a property near the town of Walgett, and are extremely worried about the future having had almost no rain since 2010. Their farm has made little income in recent years and when they run out of hay in a few months, rising prices will leave them in a financial situation her family hasn’t faced in over a 100 years. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

Ash Whitney stands in the middle of a dried-up dam. A quarter of Australia’s agricultural production by value is grown in New South Wales and the state government has offered more than A$1 billion in emergency funding to farmers. It announced the latest tranche - A$500 million - on July 30. (David Gray / REUTERS)

/

A road can be seen next to tracks leading to a water tank. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology says parts of Australia experienced the second-warmest summer on record and have just been through one of the driest and warmest autumns on record. And the dry spell, which has left more than 95% of the region in drought, has no end in sight. (David Gray / REUTERS)

about the gallery

From the ground Australia's years long drought in New South Wales, and the worst to hit the country in living memory, resembles a featureless, brown landscape, but when viewed from the air, it transforms into an artistry of colour and texture as the land cracks under a blazing sun. Circular dry plough tracks resemble the concentric circles in Aboriginal dot paintings that tell of an ancient mythology, starving cattle queuing for feed look like an abstract painting and their black shadows stretching across the land paint a surrealist image.